It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics might start having a dig at industrial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.

With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from increasing oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to find practical alternatives to conventional kerosene and these up until now seem to come down to various kinds of biofuel.

Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too poor for growing mainstream foodstuffs.

Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.

In 2007 Goldman Sachs mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds consisting of 27-40% oil.

Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to carry out research and development into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic consultants for the task.

The most recent airline to start try out brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually performed internal US utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.

One actually encouraging development has actually been the relocation far from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers thereby preventing a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in usage of biofuels in vehicles triggered a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.

Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a combined blessing certainly if some individuals wound up starving simply to satisfy someone else's green credentials.